Christy - 34 years old

My friend, Pete D., & I met Christy in Kensington sitting on a bench texting.   She is a nice, spunky lady from a Roman Catholic background.

When asked to describe her religious experience, she said, "Strict."

"You didn't happen to attend a catholic school growing up, did you?" I joked.

"I'm a catholic school teacher," she replied.   We all laughed at  the realization of what I almost stepped into with that question.   But she was cool with it.  [And for the record, I don't know if she wears certain garb when she teaches].

She'd like to ask God what his plan is for her life.

She's fairly confident about what she believes and her own religious performance.  When asked what she'd say if God asked her why he should let her into heaven, Christy replied, "Because I'm good and believe in God.  I stay true to my catholic beliefs." She rates herself as an 8 on the good-o-meter.

We gave her a booklet explaining Christianity and told her she could take the good person test with the 10 Commandments.  She quickly said that she had kept them all.   My friend, Pete, said that he had broken them all, to which she gasped in unbelief.

"You have?  You've murdered someone."

Pete nodded, "I've murdered people in my heart."

"Oh, that's not murder."

"Actually, Jesus said that if you hate someone, you've essentially assassinated them in your heart," I said.

"No, that's not right.  He didn't say that, " she contended.  "I teach the Bible and theology."  

"He did say that," I replied.

"Nope.  That's not true.  Hating someone is not murder," she protested.

"You can read it here," and I underlined the passage in Matthew 5.

"Well, I will, but I don't believe hating someone is murder," she insisted shaking her head.

"You're not disagreeing with Jesus, are you?" I asked.

She smiled.  "I don't think he said that.  And besides if you do hate someone, you can realize your mistake and then forgive them."

"True," I replied, "but you still hated them."

We looked at some of the other commandments.  I explained that we break them because we are sinful and God must--because He's a just God--judge us according to His standard.

I asked, "If God were to judge you by this standard, would he find you innocent or guilty of breaking his standard?"

"Guilty," she admitted.

"Does that concern you?"

"Well, yes, but everyone would be guilty and no one would get to heaven."

"If God gave us what we deserve, that would be bad news indeed," I said.  "But do you know what God has done so that we could go from being guilty to being innocent?"

Christy thought for a moment.   "Does it have something to do with Jesus?"

"Yes," I answered.  "It does.  Jesus kept the commandments so he could die as a substitute for sinners like you and me."

Christy thought she was in the clear because she new that Jesus died for us.   We chatted a bit more but it was hard to discern who her trust was in--Jesus or herself, or Jesus + herself.  I encouraged her to read over the booklet and think about these things.  She said she would.

Looking back on it, I wished I would have pressed her on the fact that if we cling to our own righteousness, then that is the equivalent of clinging to filthy rags and presenting them to God in hopes of approval, as Isaiah says.   "All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Is. 64).   We need to be saved from both our unrighteousness and our righteousness, because if justification comes through the law, no one will be justified (Gal. 2).

Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable conversation lasting about 20 minutes or so.

Upon leaving, I told Christy that if I were in Catholic school, I wouldn't mind having her as a teacher because she seemed nice enough and didn't fit the stereotype of a strict teacher.

But Pete wasn't so sure.  :)

-----
Romans 3:27-28, "Then what becomes of our boasting?  It is excluded....For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."

Romans 11:6, "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace."

Holy Spirit, work in Christy's heart so that she will see that salvation is by grace alone and not on the basis of our performance so that she would not boast of any confidence she has in her own law-keeping.